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South Africa is allowing domestic air travel for business purposes from June 1, but not all carriers are providing capacity as the country slowly eases up its coronavirus lockdown restrictions.

Transport minister Fikile Mbalula, giving an update on lockdown transport measures on May 30, said limited domestic air travel for business purposes is allowed under the level three restrictions that came into effect from June 1, subject to restrictions on the number of flights per day and authorisation based on the reason for travel.

The South African Government says it has withheld the disbursement of Post Commencement Finance (PCF) to South African Express (XZ, Johannesburg O.R. Tambo) after the bankrupt carrier's business rescue practitioners (BRP) failed to present a "comprehensive and feasible" turnaround plan.

Last month, BRPs Phahlani Mkhombo and Daniel Terblanche urged the state-owned carrier's line ministry, the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE), to accelerate the disbursement of ZAR200 million rand (USD12.77 million) worth of funding allocated in South Africa's 2020/21 Budget to cover immediate debts as well as salaries for 1,000+ staff for February.

Flightradar24 ADS-B data shows that as of March 8, SA Express's active fleet has now dwindled to just two CRJ200s and a single CRJ700. Its nine-strong Dash 8-400 fleet has also been inactive since February 28. While a Dash 8-300 has also been wet-leased in from CemAir (5Z, Johannesburg O.R. Tambo) to cover select flights, the bulk of SA Express's network has suffered from mass cancellations. Given delays in the release of funds and a deteriorating operational environment,...